Ahmad Abdullah Saudi GazetteJEDDAH – Supermarkets, grocery stores and other outlets have been banned from selling cigarettes and other tobacco products to youth under 18. The directives to that effect were issued by Prince Mansour Bin Mite'b, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, and they come in line with the recommendations of the third meeting of the National Committee on Fighting Tobacco held in November. The meeting concluded that legislative, executive and administrative measures at governmental level should be taken to ban selling tobacco products to under-18 youngsters. The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs together with the Ministry of Health seek to protect public health and raise the general awareness about perils of smoking. They also aim to cut down on public spending on treating cases suffering from tobacco-related diseases. Authorities in Makkah enforced a ban on smoking in 2004 at the behest of then emir late Prince Abdul Majeed Bin Abdul Aziz. Various penalties have been imposed on erring outlets and in some cases some shops were shut down permanently for repeated violations. In Madinah, the ban, in force since 2005, was imposed gradually. Smokers were not allowed to smoke within a kilometer of the Prophet's Mosque. Later, the ban was extended to shops near mosques, schools and residential districts. Finally, the restrictions covered the whole city. __